Dr. Renee Turner is an author, researcher, and trainer with nearly 20 years of experience working in grief and loss, complex trauma, and identity and spiritual issues. Working from a Gestalt perspective, she values embodied awareness and relational practices using an expressive arts framework. Renee incorporates somatic and body-centered practices into her teaching, resulting in an interpersonal educational process. She has provided countless hours of training to Texas play therapists. Renee was honored to lead the research team responsible for establishing APT’s Play Therapy Competencies in 2020.

Renee’s passion is promoting and increasing the field of play therapy and expressive arts. She presents locally and nationally on the ethical application of play therapy, sandtray therapy, and expressive therapies with children, adults, and families. Professionally, she has held many service leadership positions, including Past President of the Texas Association for Play Therapy and multiple committee leadership positions for the Association for Play Therapy. She also serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal for Play Therapy and the World Association of Sand Therapy Professionals.

Due to her service and contributions to the field, in 2017, Renee was recognized with the Emerging Leader Service Award by the Association for Play Therapy for her continuous dedication to the field of play therapy. She also received the 2019 Outstanding Supervisor Award given by the Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES) and the Nancy Guillory Award by the Texas Association for Play Therapy.